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Like many other people, after I learnt the basic crochet stitches I progressed to ‘granny squares’ so when I finished my last baby blanket and, feeling rather nostalgic, I fancied returning to the old, faithful motif. I wanted to make another blanket/throw. With warmer weather approaching (haha!), I figured it would be cooler to work with smaller pieces rather than having a cosy blanket on my lap.

In my mind’s eye I saw the classic square and so, after some research, I was rather taken aback to discover just how many variations there are. Using some odds and ends of yarn, I tried out some of the designs. My thanks to the bloggers who posted these patterns – I have included links to their blogs.

I could have gone on and on, it’s just unbelievable how many exciting designs I found. Eventually I made a decision and plumped for ‘Walled Garden’. Look how the effect changed when I added colour to the design.

Walled Garden in 3 colours

It’s been fascinating playing around with the arrangement of colours – I have opted for greens and pinks with a cream border. Fellow blogger Lundygirl has a super idea for displaying granny squares as a piece of art. Check out her blog.

Progress on my throw has been slow – when I laid my stack of squares out the other day I was disappointed to find it was only about 1 metre square. What’s my excuse? Well, longer, lighter evenings means I haven’t been sitting down in the evening for so long and the allotment has been keeping me busy.

Now I’m afraid to say, I am becoming a bit bored with it – so it’s time to put it to one side and work on something else for a while – I need a few quicker projects to keep me motivated. However, I’ll keep you posted and hopefully you’ll eventually get to see my retro throw.

I had finished my baby ripple blanket and my fingers were itching to start a new project (just something quick because I knew I was going to be starting a granny square blanket). Looking through Attic24 , which is one of my favourite sources of inspiration, I found just the thing! A crocheted bag – reasonably quick to do and would also use up lots of my odds and ends of yarn.

Crocheted sunflower bag

I have slightly altered the pattern because I wanted to make it for a child. So the base is a little smaller than in the pattern and was completed in one colour (which is not visible in the photo). As suggested, I used Stylecraft DK doubled up with a 4 mm hook as an alternative to aran weight wool. Doubling the yarn was a bit tough on the fingers but nevertheless resulted in a firm bag which stood up on its own.

Doubling the yarn made a firm bag

I decided to do a scallop edging along the top edge of the bag which, when I looked back at the pattern, was exactly what was written anyway! A couple of handles and the basic bag was done. I loved the sunny colours I was using and thought sunflowers would complement the bright summery theme. Sunflowers always make me smile and remind me of family holidays in France. I found a pattern for a sunflower, which was actually part of a granny square, so I just did the central flower section.

Crocheted sunflower

Then it was just a case of sewing it all together. This is a fantastic way of using up all your end bits of wool and you can choose any colour theme you like. I was really pleased with the end result which has been given to a friend’s little girl. The only problem is that now I want to do one for myself!

Earlier this year I made a baby blanket using the ripple pattern, following the excellent tutorial on Attic24. I was so pleased with the overall effect of the pattern; I love the gentle, wavy look. So when I realised another baby was about to arrive, I set to work on yet another baby blanket.

Baby blanket #2

This time I wanted to have a change of colour. ‘It’ is going to be a ‘she’, but I wanted to stay away from the traditional pastel pink. So I opted for yellow – for a Spring baby. I used Sirdar Snuggly yarn in three shades; cream, a very pale yellow and a slightly brighter yellow which created a very muted effect.

Ripple effect

I changed the edging on this blanket, because I wanted the edging to reflect the ripples of the pattern whilst still remaining clean and ‘unfussy’ The pattern was 3dc, 2htr, 2 tr, 1 dtr, 2tr, 2htr (UK terms) and I fiddled it round the corners to fit.

Edging pattern

So blanket is finished and just waiting for the baby to arrive!

Ripple pattern baby blanket

I’m definitely ‘hooked’ on blanket making now. Once you have memorised the pattern, it’s just so relaxing, your fingers almost working on auto pilot as the rows go by. Then you have the satisfaction of seeing your blanket gradually growing until you have to make the decision to call a halt and add your edging.

With this project finished I have nothing ‘big’ on the go and my fingers are getting twitchy. I would love to do another blanket. However, as far as I know, there are no more babies on the way! So perhaps it might be a throw? I have been having fun experimenting with different granny squares – I never realised there were so many patterns. Ah. I feel a trip to the wool shop coming on!

At last I’ve finished my crocheted spring flower garland, I seem to have been working on it for ages. The idea came into my head in February. I had just put up my Valentine heart garland when The Husband remarked that he rather liked it on the mirror and that perhaps I could do one for every season. So that sounded like a challenge. I started by fiddling around with crocheting different daffodils. I looked up various patterns and adapted them to suit. I ended up with a rather pretty stash.

Crocheted daffodils

Next I crocheted a long string, making it slightly wider than the one in the heart version to prevent it twisting so much. I decided to have 2 clusters of flowers either end and a smaller group in the middle.

End cluster

Central cluster of daffodils

End cluster

The finished product!

My spring flower garland

The flowers go rather well with the green of the walls to give that ‘spring’ feel! Now I need to start thinking about a garland for the summer!

By chance, I found this wonderful website, Attic24, and was so inspired by all the amazing projects that I just had to have a go myself. I decided to attempt the cosy blanket so off I went to the wool shop and returned with a bag full of colourful yarn, eager to start work. It was the first crocheting that I had done for years but I confess it is now definitely my favourite craft! I started the throw just before Christmas 2014 and it has kept my fingers busy through the winter months. I found it very therapeutic; row after row, stopping to select the next colour and then off again. (It was also easy to do whilst watching TV.) I admit I am now totally hooked on crochet!

The pattern is simple. Two rows of trebles, change colour and two rows of treble clusters……and repeat again and again!

It just kept on growing! I made it slightly smaller than the pattern as I wanted a ‘throw’ for snuggling, not a blanket for a bed. However, I was reluctant to finish as I was enjoying it so much. Eventually I stopped and chose 4 of my favourite colours to make the edging.